Mark Howard Gorton is the creator of LimeWire

LimeWire

LimeWire is a free peer-to-peer file sharing client program that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and other operating systems supported by the Java software platform. LimeWire uses the gnutella network as well as the BitTorrent protocol. A free software version and a purchasable "enhanced"...

, a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Java Platform, and chief executive of the Lime Group. Lime Group, based in New York, owns LimeWire as well as Lime Brokerage LLC (a stock brokerage), Tower Research Capital LLC

Tower Research

Tower Research Capital LLC is a financial services fund started by Mark Gorton in 1998.The financial engine behind many of Gorton's business and civic interests is Tower Research Capital LLC, a financial services firm that he started in 1998, following a 4½ year stint in the proprietary trading...

 (a hedge fund), and LimeMedical LLC (a medical software company).

Gorton has been a key figure in Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC

Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC

Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC, 715 F. Supp. 2d 481 , is a United States district court case in which the Southern District of New York held that Lime Group LLC, the defendant, induced copyright infringement with its peer-to-peer file sharing software, LimeWire. The court issued a permanent...

.

Gorton is involved in various green lifestyle issues especially those having to do with transportation. At one point, Gorton was the single largest supporter of Transportation Alternatives

Transportation Alternatives

Transportation Alternatives is a non-profit organization in New York City which seeks to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease private car use...

, the New York City-based advocacy group for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit. In 1999 he founded OpenPlans

OpenPlans

OpenPlans is a non-profit technology based advocacy organization which aims to help to open up government and improve transportation systems. OpenPlans currently has a staff of 50 people...

, a non-profit organization that developed GeoServer

GeoServer

In computing, GeoServer - an open-source server written in Java - allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Designed for interoperability, it publishes data from any major spatial data source using open standards...

, a collaborative open source project encouraging green urban planning initiatives. In 2009 Utne Reader

Utne Reader

Utne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...

 named Gorton one of "50 visionaries who are changing your world".

In 2005 Gorton backed The New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign (NYSCR). Two of the best known projects of NYSCR are Streetsblog and Streetfilms.

Gorton owns Tower Research Capital LLC, a financial services firm he started in 1998, which trades through its affiliate, Lime Brokerage LLC. Prior to that he spent 4½ years in the proprietary trading department of Credit Suisse First Boston (now Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse

The Credit Suisse Group AG is a Swiss multinational financial services company headquartered in Zurich, with more than 250 branches in Switzerland and operations in more than 50 countries.-History:...

).

Gorton holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

, and an MBA from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. He began his career as an electrical engineer for Martin Marietta (now part of Lockheed Martin), and, following his interests in business, entered the world of fixed-income trading

Fixed income

Fixed income refers to any type of investment that is not equity, which obligates the borrower/issuer to make payments on a fixed schedule, even if the number of the payments may be variable....

at Credit Suisse First Boston prior to going out on his own and launching the Lime Group of companies.